Saturday, 4 January 2014

Samsung’s moved successfully from TVs to phones, and somewhat less successfully to watches, so why not a car? A Wall Street Journal report says the Korean consumer electronics giant filed patents for parts that include a new electric motor and tires designed for an electric vehicle (EV). The patents were filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service.

The same report also mentions patents for a vehicle that would control the car based on your current medical condition, or based on your medical history.

Patent filings are always a bit vague. They usually cover individual components and parts, so it’s difficult to see how the technology would come together. However, there is also a filing for creating car communications between drivers of this potential Samsung EV.

That’s the part that makes the most sense. When you climb into a Samsung EV, the car could know who you are based on the phone you carry. A link between the smartphone and the car could mean the EV’s dashboard interface mirrors what shows on a future Galaxy phone, including instant access to your music, contacts, and apps.

If the Galaxy Gear watch can connect directly to a Samsung smartphone, why not a car, too?

More importantly, the EV could know your meetings for the day and show the routes you need It could tell you whether you’ll need to charge somewhere along the way to make it home. It could take calls based upon the contact’s priority and have a familiar touchscreen that looks and functions just like your phone.

It’s a long way from a patent to a car, but Samsung’s interest shows that the intersection of smartphones and cars is moving inexorably forward. How soon that will happen, and what it will look like, remains unknown.